Sarah Vs The Choice
by Notactiveanymore112
Summary: AU: Chuck left for Rome, leaving Sarah and his family. He already gave her a piece of his mind, and now the ball is on her court. Sarah just needed a little push from a friend. Set after Chuck Vs. The American Hero.


**Author's Note: **Hey! I've been trying to get my writing back on. It's hard but it's going somewhere. I love season 4, but I just can't get any inspiration to write from the episodes YET. So this one is after Chuck Vs. The American Hero. I made some slight changes for the sake of my story. I've been on a stump lately and the story might be affected. Sorry for the mistakes.

Fair warning though, some characters might be different with what they have in the show. All I can say is, I believed that it is needed in my story

Shoutout to **coreymon77** for helping me out with my stuff. Thanks!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Chuck. No Beta for this one.

* * *

As he leaned over the balcony and admired the view, he couldn't help but sigh. The city was lit up with a canvas of bright stars hanging above it, looking like a picture postcard. He was tempted to take a photo to preserve the moment, but didn't want to tear himself away. Although the city was full and buzzing with life, a lot of the noise didn't make its way up to him. He felt peaceful and relaxed, like he could stand here forever.

That was the reason he had left in the first place. He thought that he did everything to have her, to be with her, but it wasn't enough.

He asked General Beckman for some missions away from Burbank. He needed it.

When he had told Morgan and Ellie that he was going away for a while to get some quiet time. They all heard the other, unspoken reason. To get away from every memory he has with her_._ They had been supportive of him, although Ellie had attempted to make him stay. Only giving in when he was so adamant about leaving. So, after making him promise to contact them every other day, he was on a plane, soaring above the Atlantic.

That was 6 weeks ago.

* * *

After finishing the missions, he traveled. He lost himself in the culture of other countries. Went to places he had always wanted to go. He tried the food, he sipped the wine, and he saw the sights. But even 4000 miles couldn't allow him to escape her. She was constantly in the forefront of his mind.

Since leaving his home he had been to England, France, Spain and now Italy. He stayed longer in some places than others. Spain had just been a few short days. But no matter where he went, he was still chased by the memory of her.

He sighed deeply as he pushed himself off the railing and turned, making his way inside the apartment. The agency had generously offered to let him use the place while he was in Rome telling him to stay there for as long as he liked. One of the many perks of being an official agent.

He had spent the last five days in Italy and knew that he wouldn't be leaving any time soon. The minute he arrived he felt calmness spread over him. Maybe it was the way the Italians were so relaxed about everything, the way they were so friendly and hospitable. He felt at peace here.

He made his way over to the kitchen to fix him a drink before going back onto the terrace and settling down with a book.

The next morning found him at one of the many cafes that lined the streets of Rome. This one he had discovered after walking around on his first day here. It was tucked away down a narrow, cobbled street and it was quaint and quiet, reminding him of the cafe back home. He had been back every day since.

He sat himself at his usual table and basked in the warm, summer sunshine.

"Back again Signor?" asked the waitress, Melanie, in her thick Italian accent.

Chuck smiled at her before speaking. "Well your coffee is the best. I just couldn't stay away."

She laughed, rolling her eyes at him as she cleaned the table next to him "I will be back in a minute with your drink."

"Grazie." He smiled.

His Italian was very basic, but so far he had been getting away with it. He wasn't surprised that the people here could speak English. They needed it to communicate with their customers. He just wished he knew more Italian. He can use the intersect but decided against it since he just wants to be Chuck Bartowksi.

"_Well, I'm in the right place to learn" _he thought to himself.

He watched quietly as the world passed by. He knew he could quite easily stay here all day, but the other part of him, the tourist, wanted to go out and explore some more.

He was pulled from his thoughts as Melanie came back with his usual, coretto- a coffee with a shot of grappa. He had just discovered the new beverage and was fast becoming addicted.

"Here you go signor." She said as she placed it in front of him.

"Thank you." He smiled as he lifted it to his lips.

He smiled his approval as he set the cup down.

"So," she said as looked at him. "Where you going today?" she asked.

"Where do you suggest?" he questioned.

Every day that he came here, she asked what he was going to do and everyday he asked her for a suggestion, going to the place she recommended. Where better to go than a place suggested by an Italian?

She laughed deeply.

"Signor, why don't you go to a place _you_ think of?" she grinned.

"You know best." He answered, taking another sip of coffee.

He found her friendliness soothing.

She shook her head and thought for a moment before sitting down opposite him.

"Many people who come here are searching for something. What is it that you are looking for?"

He knew she wasn't talking about site seeing anymore.

He shrugged and looked out to the street for a moment before he answered.

"Honestly? I don't know."

She nodded "then what are you getting away from?" she asked with a knowing look.

He gazed back at her and shook his head. "Nothing" he lied

"Signor, most people who come here are searching for something or getting away from something. Which one are you?" she asked as she got up to leave.

As she walked away she looked over her shoulder "St. Peter's Basilica is benissimo."

"St. Peter's Basilica it is then." Chuck said as he got up, putting 10 Euros down as he always did before leaving.

When he got back to the apartment that night he was practically sleep walking. Melanie had been right as usual. St. Peter's Basilica has been very good. He had also found a nice pizzeria nearby where he stopped for dinner, which was followed by a walk along the Tiber River.

He sat down and opened his laptop, unsurprised to find an email from Ellie, asking how he was and telling him that they all missed him. Chuck typed back a quick reply, forcing himself not to ask how if she talked to Sarah. After hitting the send button with a deep sigh, he closed down his laptop and shuffled off to bed, wondering what he would get up to tomorrow.

9 weeks.

* * *

It has been nine whole weeks since she had last seen him. That was a total of 63 days, 1512 hours, and 90720 minutes.

Not that she had counted.

She sighed as she threw her pen on her desk and rubbed her hands across her face. All she had been thinking about was him and it was driving her to the brink of insanity.

She thought back to their last conversation. She didn't expect that everything would happen like that. He just had to place the ball on her court. It's not like he can't blame him. They've been doing the will they/won't they for so long, that when Chuck had enough, she was thrown out of the loop.

"_Look, I don't want to pester you Sarah. Or become some - some nuisance you can't avoid. I've seen Morgan go that route far too many times to count. And since I've already given the fancy eloquent version of this speech before, I'm going to be blunt and honest. I love you... One more time because it feels really nice to say, I love you. I feel like I've been bottling this up forever. I love you__."_

"_The truth is I cannot be around you because it hurts so god damned much. Every time I see you it kills me because it seems like I'm not enough for you. It hurts that I can't be with you Sarah and I know that it's my fault by choosing to be a spy and leave you but damn it, I love you. I always give you my heart and you somehow crushed piece by piece. That's why I'm leaving. Because I know if stay around you long enough it will happen all over all over again. I don't want you to get hurt anymore, especially if it's because of me. I can't live with that"_

_With that he walked out of Castle and maybe out of her life._

_Sarah had stood in shock. She never thought that Chuck would really do that._

Sarah shook her head as she thought back. If only she had gone after him straight away instead of leaving it to the next day, by which time he was half way across the world.

She slammed her note pad shut angrily.

"Poor note book." came a voice from the door.

Sarah looked up to see Casey making her way into her desk.

"It deserved it." Sarah joked weakly.

Casey nodded as he sat down opposite her.

Sarah looked up at her before speaking at length.

"How is he?"

It was the same question she asked him every day.

Casey said softly at her "He seems ok. He never really says much in his emails other than where he is and that he's fine."

"Where is he now?"

"He's still in Italy. He seems to really like it over there." Casey replied

Sarah nodded and looked down at her desk.

Casey surveyed her for a long moment, sighing mentally. So, ok. Maybe he lied a little. Chuck wasn't fine. He could lie about it in an email, but he knew him. And from the look of Sarah, she wasn't fine either. He knew what he was about to do seems wrong but he was tired of seeing them both unhappy. "_Stupid Lady Feelings"_

"Ok." He cleared his throat and shifted forward in his chair. "You need to go and see Chuck." He said seriously.

Sarah's head snapped up.

"What?" she asked, incredulously.

"You heard me. He is miserable and so are you. You are also both, still madly in love with each other."

Sarah didn't even bother to deny it.

"Casey, he left to get away from me. I think that shows how he really feels about me. He won't be happy if I follow him all the way to Europe." she reasoned.

Casey shook her head "He left because he is confused about it all. He left because he doesn't know what to do. He is scared of getting hurt again, getting _you_ hurt again. You need to go there and make him understand. To bring him back. He has never been the same, ever since after the whole Shaw thing went down. He pretty much lost himself along the way, trying to prove to everyone that he can be a spy. And now, he got tired of all the lies and pain. Honestly, I know you haven't been feeling rather peachy either. We know that he's pretty insecure with himself compare to the guys you dated before. He's not the moron that we looked out for, who opened his heart to everything and everyone. Sarah sat there as she absorbed his words.

"Neither of you are complete without the other. You will both be miserable forever and I can't even bear to think about that, let alone see it happen. So go out this hole and talk to the nerd." He commanded.

Sarah sat in shock.

"_Wow, sugarbear is still alive!" Sarah thought_

"But we don't even know where in Italy he is" she said sadly.

Casey handed her a piece of paper. "I'm still a spy Walker. You should start acting one."

Sarah smiled widely and stood up to grab the paper.

"I guess I need to book a flight then."

Casey just grinned evilly as he produced another piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her.

"Way ahead of you." He grinned, as she passed Sarah the plane ticket.

Sarah laughed and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you John."

Casey hugged her back awkwardly before letting her go. "No need to thank me. Just go and get the kid."

Sarah beamed before running out of the office leaving a successful Casey in her wake.

Casey stood there "My work here is done."

He just hoped Chuck would hear Sarah out.

* * *

Melanie wasn't surprised to see him sitting there again, just like he had for the last 3 weeks. She shook her head before joining him at his usual table.

"There are no more places I think I can suggest to you." She smiled.

Chuck just laughed.

She didn't miss the fact that his laugh didn't quite reach his eyes. After serving so many people day in and day out, she had developed a knack for reading them. She knew he was looking for something the minute she saw him, she had seen it in the faces of many others before. But he seemed more lost, more troubled.

"Have you found it yet?" she asked referring back to the conversation they had a few weeks ago.

He shook his head sadly "I don't think I ever will."

After staring at him for a moment, Melanie suddenly stood up and went over to the man behind the counter, muttering to him in Italian. Chuck watched as the man, Dante looked over at him and smiled before nodding to Melanie.

She made her way back over to him and tugged on his arm.

"Come signor, there is one more place you must see."

Chuck followed her confusedly.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Just wait and see."

After fifteen minutes of navigating the streets of Rome, they came to a stop in front of a large fountain. Beautiful was the first word that sprang into Chuck's head but didn't seem to do it justice. Carved delicately into the white stone were winged horses being ridden by Gods', as water flowed from many outlets, the sun glistening off it. It was quite simply amazing.

Melanie let go of his arm and motioned towards it.

"This is the Fontana di Trevi." She explained as she sat down on the wall, pushing her hand though the water.

Chuck was still standing gazing at it. "The Trevi Fountain." He smiled.

"Si." replied Melanie as Chuck sat next to her. "Legend has it that if you throw one coin into the fountain you are ensured a return to Rome, which is why so many people come here. However, what many people don't know is that if you thrown in two or three coins, it will lead to a beautiful romance and lifelong love. You will receive this luck if you throw the coins from your right hand, over you left shoulder." She explained.

She looked at him for a moment before speaking again at length.

"So Signor, how many will you throw?" She asked as she handed him some coins.

Chuck look between her and the fountain several times.

"This is what your suggestion for the day is?" He asked.

She nodded. "We Italians are big believers in fate and love. I have no doubt that this will work for you" she replied as she got up to leave.

Chuck smiled at her "See you tomorrow." He said.

She just grinned back at him over her shoulder "Maybe." She replied.

Chuck sat there for a moment as he watched other tourists throw coins into the fountain. He sighed as he looked down at the coins in his hands.

Was he still a believer in fate? Did he trust in this old legend? Did he even want to?

He sighed before sorting out the coins, closing his fist around them before throwing them over his shoulder. He didn't watch them sail through the air, but he heard the three plops as they landed in the water. He smiled at himself before he too got up to leave.

_At the very least, I'm ensured a trip back here_ he thought to himself.

* * *

She shuffled in her seat for what she believed to be the thousandth time. She had only been on the plane for two hours and she still had a lot of time to go. She was nervous as hell. Sure she had been confident when she had left her Castle but now she was hesitant. What if he really didn't want to see her?

_Pull it together Walker! _Her brain shouted _you would march right up to him and tell him how you feel. You will make him listen whether he wants to or not._

She nodded in approval with her subconscious. It was right. She was tired of skirting around her feelings with Chuck. She loved him. Simple as that. She just hoped that he still loved her. Either way, she was willing to fight for him, like he had for her so many times. Never once giving up. This time it was Chuck Bartowski that was in need of saving.

With her mental encouragement having soothed her, she pulled out a picture that took up permanent residence in her bag. As she began looking at their smiles_, _she felt her body start to relax as she settled herself down, becoming lost in Chuck's smile.

* * *

Chuck sighed as he looked at the clock, which indicated it had been exactly one minute since he last checked. The bright red numbers glared at him as if admonishing his state of consciousness. He never slept particularly well, but tonight seemed harder for him than usual. All the things that Melanie had said today about love, fate and hope were all floating around in his head and he was desperately trying to make sense of it all. It also didn't help that a certain blue-eyed blonde seemed to be at the forefront of his mind. As always.

He huffed, throwing back the covers as he climbed out of bed.

"Silly Italian musings." He muttered, annoyed that they were preventing him from sleep.

He padded down the hall and into the kitchen, getting himself a glass of water. He leaned against the counter as he sipped from the glass and his mind wondered to home.

As much as he had enjoyed traveling, he missed Burbank. As amorous and tranquil Italy was, it just wasn't the same. He now truly understood the phrase, there's no place like home.

He sighed once more as he looked at the clock that was mounted on the wall. 2:45am.

He didn't even consider trying to go back to sleep and instead, went towards his laptop. Maybe he could pass the time by writing. One of the good things about Italy, it was a good muse.

Once he had switched it on, he heard the familiar ping that signaled the arrival of a new email.

Looking at it, he was unsurprised to see it was from Casey and he quickly opened it up. All of his emails so far had practically been mission reports and he knew that this would help pass the time. He was surprised to see it much shorter than normal.

_You owe me big time kid. Remember to keep an open mind. And heart._

_Casey_

Chuck frowned at the unusually short, cryptic message. What the hell was he on about? He checked back at the last email he had sent, glancing at it to see if he had asked her to do something. Nope. It was just full of crap ramblings he had made up to keep her happy.

He re-reads the current message, becoming increasingly confused.

"Ok Casey, weird much?" he grumbled to himself as he shook his head.

Owe him for what? And what did he need to be open-minded about? He shouldn't have been surprised that Casey had once again baffled him. He had been doing so since they were teamed up. But there was something more to this.

He shook his head once more. At first, the talk with Melanie, and now Casey? He would never understand them. They were far too confusing.

He was pulled from his scrutiny of the opposite sex when he heard a knock at the door, startling him.

He looked back at the clock. It's 3:07 in the morning. Who on earth would knock on his door at this hour. This wasn't helping his already confused state.

He heard the knock again and heaved himself off the couch, figuring it must be one of the carriers. Didn't they know the concept of not calling at people's houses in the dead of night?

He muttered to himself as he crossed to the front door, the knocking sounding again.

"Ok, ok! I'm coming, jeez. Impatient much?" he shouted at the door, belatedly realizing that if it were a carrier, they wouldn't have understood what he just said.

He unlocked the deadbolt from the door as he pulled it open.

"Do you have any idea..." the words died in his mouth as he looked up. Just right into the eyes of Sarah Walker.

He had officially gone mad. He was sure of it. It was bad enough that she haunted his dreams and now he was hallucinating about her? This was going too far.

He stared in blank shock for a few moments, blinking slowly. He felt his jaw hanging, but couldn't find the ability to shut it. He closed his eyes and opened them warily. The hallucination was still there, looking back at him nervously.

_This must be happening because I was thinking about her earlier _he thought to himself. It was just his subconscious playing tricks on him.

He stared for what felt like hours until he was once again pulled from his reverie.

"Are you going to invite me in or are we just going to stand here?"

He felt his eyes bug out of his head in surprise.

_Holy crap! I didn't know hallucinations could talk! _

He looked around for a moment, noticing the bag at her feet.

_I didn't know hallucinations had luggage either._

He met her eyes once more and she smiled lightly at him. He knew then that she was real. He wasn't imagining it. She was here, now, in Italy.

"Sarah." he stated as he continued to stare, dumfounded.

* * *

She had to admit, it was a little amusing to see him standing there gaping like a fish. The look of shock on his face was comical. She watched him assess her, blinking rapidly as though clearing his sight. She saw him close his eyes and them open them, checking that she was still there.

Her thoughts of him hadn't done justice. Here he was, his curls all messed up, dressed in pajama pants and a tee shirt, squinting at her in the way she loved. She desperately wanted to launch herself into his arms, to feel him again. But from the look on his face, she would have to take things slowly.

She opted for speaking to him instead and watched his eyes go wide when she did.

"Are you going to invite me in or are we just going to stand here?" she said light-heartedly, hoping to soften the mood.

Chuck didn't reply. He merely looked around dumbly, finally meeting her eyes. She could see the internal struggle he was having and she smiled warmly at him, trying to ease his mind.

At length, he muttered her name, as though needing verbal confirmation that she was actually there.

"Sarah."

She nodded before answering "Hey Chuck."

Having decided that she was in fact real, Chuck snapped out of his mind lapse and grasped back to reality.

"What are you doing here? How did you know where to find me?" He asked.

Sarah looked at the floor before returning her gaze to his. "I came to see you. Can I come in?"

Chuck then realized that she was still standing in the hallway and hurriedly moved aside so she could enter.

"Sorry, err, come in."

Being the gentleman that he was, he grabbed her bag for her, setting it aside the door as she made her way inside, observing the large open planned apartment.

"This is a nice place." She said conversationally. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach, nervous at the conversation she knew loomed ahead.

"CIA really takes care of their own, I guess." He paused, running a hand through his hair. He suddenly felt very self-conscious at the thought that he was in an old t-shirt and pajama pants.

For a moment neither one said anything. There was an awkward silence between them and it was starting to make Chuck feel very uncomfortable.

"Why are you here Sarah?" he repeated.

"I came to see you. I need to talk to you." She replied, never taking her eyes off his face.

Chuck panicked for a moment "Is everyone at home ok? Has something happened?" he asked quickly.

Sarah shook her head vigorously, attempting to calm him. "No. Nothing's wrong. Everyone back home is fine. I just needed to talk to you."

Chuck looked confused "You flew all the way to Italy just to talk to me?"

Sarah let out a small smile "Well you have been gone for over two months and I was getting a little impatient." she joked.

Chuck shuffled a little and looked at the floor. "I'm sorry I left so suddenly. Well, technically I did some mission but after it, I just needed the break. To think a few things over." He whispered.

"What kind of things?"

He was reluctant to answer "Just...things." he answered lamely looking everywhere but her.

Sarah huffed a little "I see. Well I have been thinking a few things over too while you have been gone. Do you want to know what they are?"

Chuck didn't answer, not liking where this conversation was leading. He shook his head slightly, not trusting himself to speak.

"Well that's a shame, because I have made a few major decisions" she said, slightly irate. This conversation was coming 3 years too late, and all the built up emotions and tensions were bubbling to the surface.

"Sarah, please. I can't do this." He muttered.

"Do what Chuck? You won't even give me chance to speak to you properly."

Chuck was suddenly hit by an unrelated issue, which he felt the need to voice. "How did you even know where I was?"

Sarah paused a moment before answering. "Casey told me."

Suddenly, the email he had received earlier made perfect sense to him.

"Casey. He set all this up." He muttered, more to himself than to her, the words in the email standing out in his head.

_Remember to keep an open mind. And heart._

He shook his head and placed his hands on his hips.

"Are you angry?"

"No. I was just thinking that maybe I had a bad influence on Casey."

Sarah couldn't help but laugh at this, relief flooded through her knowing that Chuck wasn't upset.

"Yeah, I think you did."

The uncomfortable silence was back, filling the room like a giant elephant. Sarah knew it was now or never. She hadn't come all the way to Italy to just turn around and go home.

"Chuck. I know you don't want to but we have to talk about this."

"About what?" he questioned, deliberately playing dumb.

"You know what. Me, you...us."

"You're with Shaw. And you said that I'm not the same guy you fell in love with. There is no us Sarah. There has been no us." He said dejectedly.

She shook her head "I know Chuck, the thing with Shaw was a mistake. Like the thing you had with Hannah. But it's different now. This doesn't have to be that case. We can sort things out."

"No. We can't."

"Yes we can! Why are you being so close minded about all this?" she said, her voice rising. She was becoming increasingly annoyed at his lack of positive response.

"Because I blew it Sarah! I messed everything up when I left you in Prague and I hurt you so much. Everytime I tried to win you back, I just pushed you away. I did the one thing I swore to myself that I would never do and I won't allow myself to do it again."

He sighed as he once again ran his hand through his hair, as Sarah stood dumbfounded.

"I think its best that you go. You can by all means stay and get some rest, but it would be better for both of us if you go home."

Now she was angry. "So that's it then? You decided what best for the both of us without any say from me? Am I not allowed to have an opinion on this?"

He didn't answer her.

"Don't close yourself up on me Chuck! It's all you have been doing and I'm tired of it! I just flew 10 hours on a plane to talk to you and god dammed, you will listen to me!"

Chuck stepped back, not anticipating her outburst. When he made no move to speak she continued.

"I'm sick of myself running away from my feelings. I did it in Burbank and you're doing it now. Why are you so afraid to show how you feel? You always used to be open about your emotions Chuck. You never hid them."

Sarah sighed heavily as she waited for an answer. She wasn't going to let him get out of this.

He slumped on the sofa, glaring at the floor before he answered.

"People change Sarah."

"I know that." She said softly.

He rubbed his hands over his face before continuing. "I'm not the same guy I was back then. Nowhere near it. I don't know how to be like that anymore. You're right, It feels like I have been somebody else these last few months and I don't know how to get back."

He paused for a moment as she sat next to him on the couch.

"I wish I could take back what I did Sarah. The minute I stepped out of the train station, the whole Hannah thing and me being a spy, I knew I had made the biggest mistake of my life. But I hurt you and I couldn't look you in the eyes knowing I had done that. And like I said before, I don't want to do it again. I won't. And I don't want to hurt myself either. I don't think I could take it."

There was silence in the room as his words washed over her. They were down to the deep stuff now and there was no turning back. It was all being laid out on the table.

She shifted slightly so that she was facing him more and observed his face. He was staring out the window with a pained expression.

"So you think, that by hiding you heart away, it won't be hurt? That I won't be hurt?" she asked delicately.

He didn't answer.

"Chuck, by doing that you only hurt yourself more. By doing that you keep yourself from living."

He shook his head.

"No Sarah, by doing it I won't hurt you anymore."

"Really? Well it's not working. Being apart from you, not seeing you all the time. That hurts me. When I came back after the whole Prague mess and saw you for the first time. That hurt so much. You looked so broken and lost. And all I could think about was how much I had missed you. Missed us. And then, when I distanced myself from you. That was hell for me. I didn't handle what happened to us well. Shaw was there. I thought he can help me move on, but I guess I was wrong. The last time we talked, you said that you weren't enough for me. Guess what? You are more than enough. I fell in love with an ordinary guy. I fell in love with the guy that fixed my phone and stopped bombs using a computer virus. Finding out you flew all the way to Europe without so much as a goodbye? You think that didn't hurt me? You need to come up with a new plan because the one you have now sucks."

She stopped to collect her breath before she launched into another verbal onslaught.

"You know, you have this overwhelming need to protect everyone all the time. Make decisions on their behalf because you think its best. What about what they think about what's best for them? Don't you think I should have a choice in this before you bury our relationship for good?"

He turned to look at her then. The pain in his eyes was almost more than she could take.

"I'm no good for you Sarah." He said it with such belief that it made her heart lurch.

She shook her head "Don't say that. Like I said, isn't that something that I should get to decide?"

"It's true Sarah. How can you still want to be with me after everything? I left you in Prague just to be a spy. I did everything just to be worthy of you. I ended up hurting the people that I love. I think, if I leave then everyone would be safe and happy."

He jumped out the chair as he paced around the room.

"You don't deserve someone like that. What kind of guy does that make me, huh? Who just up and leaves. I refuse to let you have to deal with someone like that!"

By now Sarah had jumped up too and she looked pissed off.

"Don't you dare say that, and stop making choices for me god dammed! You know, for a smart guy, you sure to have a stupid way of thinking about things!"

Both of them were glaring at each other, breathing heavily.

She exhaled noisily and took a calming breath before speaking again.

"Chuck, please. Don't close yourself off. Don't let one mistake dictate how we should be. What happened in Prague, happened. We can't change it. But we can learn from it. We can move on."

She bravely reached forward and placed a hand on his arm, needing to feel him.

He made no movement or response, but she knew he was listening intently.

"How Sarah? How can we just move on from it? What I did..."

"What you did was show your feelings. And yes, you left. But it's not like I rushed out the station after you. We both could have fixed it then instead of being to proud and scared to do anything about it. What's done is done. These last few months have been a nightmare without you. I haven't lived. I've just existed. I want to be with you Chuck. I need to be with you."

She brought a hand out to rest on his cheek as she looked into his eyes.

"I love you Chuck. I always have and always will. And nothing you do or say is ever going to change that."

He closed his eyes briefly "You can't." he whispered.

She brought her other hand to his opposite cheek, cupping his face.

"I think I can. And I do."

His eyes met hers again. Their deep blue pools, ones he had gotten lost in countless times before, pulled him in. He listened once more as she spoke again.

"Even if you don't love me back, it won't stop my feelings for you. If you tell me right now that you don't love me, I will go. I will go back to Burbank and I will never bother you again if that's what you want. If want me to leave you so badly, say it, and I will leave you in peace."

He took a shuddering breath, feeling the warmth of her hands on his face.

"Sarah..." he trailed off

"Look me in the eyes, tell me you don't love me and I will go Chuck." She said firmly, still grasping his face.

His mind flashed back through all his memories of them, the good and the bad, crashing through his mind at lightning speed.

_Have an open mind. And heart._

He looked deeper into her eyes as she waited for an answer and he slowly shook his head, closing his eyes.

"I...can't." he whispered, his words ghosting through the air. He brought his hands up to her own face before he uttered the words he had been dying to say to her.

"I love you Sarah. I never stopped."

Her glowing smile was his response and before either of them knew what was happening, their lips were crashing together, pouring all the love they had for each other into one kiss.

For all they knew, years could have passed by the time they pulled apart, smiling at each other.

"Do you have any idea how long I have been waiting to hear that?" she asked through her tears.

He swiped the pads of his thumbs under her eyes. Wiping away the moisture "About as long as I have to say it" he chuckled.

"And in that moment, a moment of clarity. For I was now, and always would be, in love with you, Sarah Walker."

She smiled softly at him as she absorbed his words before bringing him in for another kiss.

* * *

The next day brought more of the typical Italian sunshine and Melanie took a moment to enjoy it before she carried on cleaning the table. She smiled as she looked to the one he always occupied, sitting empty in the corner of the terrace.

She checked the time, noticing that it was an hour passed the time he usually came.

"Two coins it was then." she grinned as she moved over to a group in the corner, knowing that he had finally found what he had been looking for.

* * *

**A/N 2: **And that's a wrap. Hate it? Like it? Reviews are always appreciated. Even if the story is a bit messed up.


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